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Jan Radziłówski
|birth_place = Radziłów Castle, Radziłów, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth |death_date = |death_place = Skokówka, Polish–Lithuanian Empire |restingplace = |restingplacecoordinates = |nationality = Polish |spouse = Krystyna Tarnowska Konstancja Renata |children = with Krystyna Tarnowska: Kazimierz Radziłówski Anna Radziłówska Stanisław Karol Radziłówski with Konstancja Renata: Karol Jan Radziłówski |profession = Nobleman, magnate and politician |religion = Lutheranism Roman Catholic (Converted) |signature = Jan Radziłówski signature.png |signature_alt = Signature of Jan Radziłówski. |blank1 = Noble family |data1 = Radziłówski family |blank2 = Father |data2 = Sigimund Radziłówski |blank3 = Mother |data3 = Konstancja of Austria |blank4 = |data4 = |blank5 = |data5 = |nickname = |allegiance = |branch = |serviceyears = |rank = |unit = |commands = |battles = |awards = |military_blank1 = |military_data1 = |military_blank2 = |military_data2 = |military_blank3 = |military_data3 = |military_blank4 = |military_data4 = |military_blank5 = |military_data5 = }} Jan Radziłówski ( ; 6 February 1756 – 19 May 1825) was Polish nobleman, magnate, the 1st ordynat of Radziłów. Elected first Marshal of the Empire from 1822 to his death, he's also an Deputy Kanclerz (Chancellor) of the Crown from 1795, Lord Grand-Chancellor of the Crown from 1797, and Grand Hetman of the Crown from 1795, General Starost of Kraków from 1796 to 1799 Starost of Bełz, Międzyrzecz, Krzeszów, Knyszyn and Tartu. Important advisor to Kings Stanislaus II Poniatowski and his cousin James Casimir I, he was one of the major opponents of James Casimir's successor, Leopold Albert later Stanislaus, and one of the most skilled diplomats, politicians and statesmen of his time, standing as a major figure in the politics of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Empire throughout his life. Early life Childhood and education Jan Radziłówski was born on 6 February 1756 to Sigimund Radziłówski and Konstancja of Austria in Radziłów Castle in Radziłów, which known as the House of Radziłów (Radziłówski family). He started his education in a school in Białystok but when he was twelve years old he was sent to study abroad; from 1768 to 1772 he was a paige at the royal court in Hungary. Already at this young age he attended lectures at the Lutheran Theological University and Semmelweis University. In 1773, he return to Poland after Polish lost during the War of the Bar Confederation then attended the Jagiellonian University; after a few months there he moved to his family's University of Radziłów, where from 1774 he studied law and received a doctorate in 1778 During his years abroad he converted from Lutheranism to Roman Catholicism. During his education, he became active in university politics, and in 1779 he was elected the rector of the law department. Around that time he also wrote De senatu Romano, a brochure about Ancient Rome government. He returned to the Commonwealth in November 1779, and was the first person to receive a commendation letter from the senate of the Republic of Venice. Early career After returning to Poland, he was appointed to the Royal Chancellery, and soon became a favorite secretary to King Stanislaus II. In 1784 he commanded a royal task force, sent to remove the noble family of Starzechowscy from the royal lands they were decreed to hold illegally. Another major task he completed at that time was the reorganization of the Chancellery archive. In 1785 he married his wife Krystyna Tarnowska; together they have three children, but Anna died less then a week of birth. The Commonwealth was abolished after the House of Poniatowski was sent to exile to Russia in 1795 during the election sejm (special session of the Commonwealth parliament) he used his influence to enforce the viritim election (meaning all nobles had the right to vote for the new king during the upcoming Polish–Lithuanian royal election, 1795). However, his proposal for majority voting did not pass, which opened the process for abuses of liberum veto in the future. He was a colleague of Jerzy Wołodyjowski, and with them he was of the leader of a faction of the lesser and middle nobility (szlachta) in the Commonwealth, whose goal was the reform the country - the execution movement - preserving the unique constitutional and parliamentary government of the Commonwealth with the dominant role of poorer nobility (Golden Freedom). He was so influential and popular among the lesser nobility that he was known as the "first tribune of nobility" or "Polish Gracchus." Chancellor and hetman He also published a pamphlet praising the new king, and thus suffered a loss of face when Stanislaus II abdicated the throne and went to exile in Russia. During the following 1795 election he was a vocal enemy of the Hanover dynasty and its candidate, and this anti-Habsburg stance, resounding among the lesser nobility, helped him regain his popularity. For the king, Radziłówski championed the case of a Polish candidate, which ended up in the marriage of Radziłówski's cousin Jakub Kazimierz Radziłówski with the anti-Habsburg Konstancja Grabowska of Hungary. Konstancja thanked Radziłówski by granting him the office of Deputy Chancellor on 3 March 1795. He participated on James's side during the Polish–Lithuanian War in 1795–1797, a chorągiew of pancerni (cavalry unit) and participating in close combat on several occasions. In 1799, he married again to Konstancja Renata, daughter of magnate Mikołaj Renata Czarny; this made him a close ally of the Renata family, the most powerful family in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1801 he received the post of the Grand Crown Chancellor. That year poet Jan Kochanowski dedicated his Odprawa Posłów Greckich, the first Polish tragedy, to him. He took part in the preparation for a series of Wars in Europe against Britain and it's allied forces and James and Radziłówski allied with Emperor Napoleon I from 1807 to 1812 where he contributed a group of 400 or 600 Polish legionaries. Through he had little prior military background nor experience, he was interested in mastering the military art, and proved to be an adept learner. With James's support, he began filling in for some of the roles of Grand Crown Hetman Bolesław Łódźenski, particularly when Bolesław was not present. While not campaigning, he was also instrumental in ensuring that the ongoing political support for the war. In 1811 he was hit by another personal tragedy, as his wife died in labor, together with their child; entering a short period of depression. When Radziłówski and King James knew that Poland already losing the war, Poland switched sides when Napoleon failure in Russia in 1812. Later that year, in August, he re-captured Warsaw in September he participated in the siege of Velikiye Luki, and then took Zavoloc. On 11 August 1812 he received the nomination for the post of Grand Crown Hetman; this nomination, although uncontroversial at that time, was technically illegal. Following that he participated in the long and inconclusive Siege of Pskov, which ended with the Peace of Warsaw in 1812. Though Radzilowski failed to capture Pskov, he drained the Russian resources, and the ongoing siege was a major reason for the final treaty, which was highly favorable to Poland and James's popularity soon to be increasing. In opposition to the throne After the death of James Casimir in 1821, Radziłówski helped German Prince Stanislaus III Albert gain the Polish throne, fighting in the brief civil war against the forces supporting British High Admiral William Henry (later William IV of the United Kingdom). The camp supporting Stanislaus was rallied around Radziłówski, whereas William Henry was supported by the Czarniecki family. Radziłówski defended Warsaw and defeated William's forces in the Battle of Radziłów in 1821. In that battle, which Sławomir Leśniewski describes as "one of the most important in Polish history, and the most important in Radzilowski's military career", William was taken prisoner and in the resulting Treaty of Bytom and Będzin of 1822 had to give up all pretenses to the Polish crown. Later that year Radziłówski proposed a reform of the royal elections, which failed to pass the Sejm. Radziłówski presented to this Sejm a project that in case the present King should die without issue none but a candidate of some Slav stock should henceforth be eligible to the Polish throne. This was a project which could even imagine the possibility of some kind of union between Catholic Poland, Orthodox Moscovy and semi-Protestant Bohemia. In fact, it was a circuitous and clumsy counter-proposal against pro-Britain policy.Bain, R. Nisbet, Slavonic Europe, Cambridge University Press, 1908, p.137. From 1823 Radziłówski, in his role as the hetman, the king was deeply wounded during an assassination attempted. He tried to prevent the intensifying Ukrainian incursions along the Emprie south-eastern border, but with little success. In order to deal with the recurring disturbances in that region Radziłówski developed a plan to turn Moldavia into a buffer zone between the Polish Empire and the Ukrainian Republic; this would lead to a lengthy campaign. Later years and death In 1820 and 1821 Radziłówski led the Polish Army where the following year, he defeated Ivan's son Pedro at the Battle of Pereyaslav in 1822, he marched his army to Ukraine when he had three winning victory at the battles of Kolomak, Borispol and Kryliv, he failed to capture Kiev in 1823. The following year, Radziłówski begin the and the King took part in the Treaty of Lodz, which ended Forty Years' War. At the same time he was a vocal opponent of that war on the political scene. Poland given Ukrainian Governor Ivan Hordiyenko's land of eighty percent, which Horiyenkop given Poland same of the little lands of the Left-bank and Right-bank Ukraine. Poland recognized Ivan Hordyenko as Hetman of Ukraine, which Hordyenko was sworn in as first Hetman of the Ukrainian Republic on March 1825. At the Sejm of 1825 Radziłówski led opposition to the governance reforms proposed by Stanislaus; seeing in them intentions of transforming the Empire into an absolute monarchy. Later, he also agreed Stanislaus's plans to intervene in the civil war plaguing Muscovy (the Time of Troubles and the Dymitriads). He clashed with Stanislaus for the final time, but turns into peace with each other during the Sejm of January 1825. After the Sejm, Radziłówski become very ill after signs of stomach pains, headaches and fatigue. The king sent Doctor Władysław Bartosiewicz to Skokówka where Radziłówski was staying. Radziłówski died on 19 May 1825. His fortune was inherited by his younger son Karol Jan Radziłówski. Assessment and legacy Remembrance Fame of Radziłówski, significance in life, endured after his death. He was praised by artists such as Władysław Kolakowski, Szymon Ursyn, Stanisław Artur Śliwiński, and Karol Kasimir Niemcewicz and historians, including Jan Rutkowski and Jakub Sobieski. There were also those critical of him: Hugo Kołłątaj, Józef Szujski, Michał Bobrzyński. Nonetheless, Polish historiography and culture treatment of Radziłówski is mostly positive, and historian Janusz Tazbir remarked that Radziłówski posthumous career was even more magnificent than his real one. Leśniewski, ending his recent biography of Radziłówski, concludes that he is a significant, if controversial, figure of Polish Renaissance. Radziłówski was the subject of several paintings and drawings. Most notably, he is one of the characters in two large paintings by Jakub Matejko, featured on the Skarga's Sermon and Batory at Pskov. Political and military leader Having control of both the Chancellorship and the Grand Hetman office, Radziłówski was one of the most powerful people in the country, having obtained both the power of Grand Hetman (commander in chief of the armed forces) and that of chancellor, combined for the first time in the hands of one person. He was responsible for much of the Polish internal and foreign policies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent statesmen in Polish history. Even though his military career begun almost as an afterthought, or by accident, Radziłówski is also remembered as one of the most accomplished Polish military commanders. In his tactics, he favored sieges, flanking maneuvers, conserving his forces, and the new Western art of fortification and artillery. The war with Ukraine shown him to be a skilled commander in sieges, and latter events would prove him to be an equally able leader in the open field. Wealth and cultural patronage Radziłówski gathered a significant fortune; his estates generated a revenue of over 200,000 zloties in the ending of 18th century to early 19th century. His personal lands covered 7,500 miles, and included eleven towns and over 100 villages. He was a royal caretaker of another dozen or so cities and over 676 villages. Totaled, his personal and leased lands covered over 16,000 miles, with 26 towns and cities and 816 villages. In 1589 he succeeded in establishing the Radziłówski Family Fee Tail (ordynacja radziłówska), a de facto duchy. Radziłówski supported economical development of his lands, investing in colonization of frontiers, and the development of industry, both small (sawmills, breweries, mills and such) and large (his lands had four iron mills and four glass factories). His most prized creation was the capital of his Fee Tail, the city of Radziłów, founded in 1810, built and designed as a Renaissance or "ideal city" by the Italian architect [[]]. In the city, in 1815, he and his family founded the university, Akademia Radziłów, the second university in the history of education in Poland. In addition to Radziłów, he turned five other villages to a towns: Ovruch, Stryi, Vydzy, Amere and Trakai. Radziłówski collected a significant library, and was a patron of numerous artists in his Fee Tail. Artists under his patronage included the poets Jan Kochanowski and Szymon Szymonowic, and the writer and historian Joachim Bielski. Personality Radziłówski was a deeply religious person, and his conversion from Lutheranism to Catholicism was primarily pragmatic. Leśniewski notes that Radziłówski was often motivated by greed, for example during the War of the Bar Confederation, when he supported King Stanislaus II and during the 1770–1773. When he favored the solution of George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach; in both cases his decision was likely influenced by bribes or favors. In another example, Leśniewski describes how Radziłówski openly demanded rewards following his victory at his home village of Radziłów, and tried to include an article favoring him in the Bytom and Będzin treaty. He further notes, critically, that with raising power and political success Radziłówski begun displaying negative qualities, such as egoism and arrogance. Radziłówski was ruthless to those weaker than him. At the same time, he was respected by his opponents, widely recognized as highly intelligent, a cunning strategist and tactician in matters political and military, and a popular political leader. He valued the good of the country at least as high as his own, and although he could have become the king after a victorious civil war against Stanislaus, he preferred to act within the limits of law instead, avoiding a war that could devastate the country, and thus curbing his own ambitions. See also * Army of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth * Army of the Polish-Lithuanian Empire Notes References }} External links * * Category:1756 births Category:1825 deaths Category:University of Paris alumni Category:Secular senators of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Category:People from Radziłów County Category:Great Crown Hetmans Category:Polish Lutheranism and Reformed Christians Jan 1756 Category:House of Radziłów Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Lutheranism Category:University of Padua alumni Category:Polish people of the Livonian campaign of James Casimir I Category:Collège de France alumni Category:People of the Long Turkish War